Mendoza: Luján de Cuyo Wine Tour & Olive Oil Tasting with Lunch

4.59

(133 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t expect the air to smell so green out here—like cut grass and something sweet I couldn’t name. The drive from Mendoza city to Luján de Cuyo was quiet at first, just low voices and that early sunlight slicing through the van window. Our guide, Martín, started talking about how the Andes water shapes everything here—even the way the vines twist. He said it like he’d grown up with them. Maybe he had.

The first winery felt older than it looked—Alta Vista, with these stone walls and a kind of hush inside. We tried their Malbec (of course), but also a white I can’t pronounce. Someone asked about the barrels and Martín grinned, “French oak is like a good friend—always there but never too loud.” I liked that. At Casa de los Vientos later, we walked between rows of vines while a breeze kept messing with my hat. There was this moment where everyone just stopped talking and listened to nothing but birds and distant tractors. I still think about that silence.

Lunch was three courses—I went for the vegetarian option, which surprised me (in a good way). The bread came warm, almost steaming in my hands. Someone spilled wine and nobody cared; we all laughed, even the staff. Afterward we visited an olive oil factory called Laur—the smell hit me before anything else, sharp and grassy, almost peppery at the end. I dipped bread again because why not? My fingers were slick for hours after.

I guess what stuck with me was how casual everything felt—no rush between stops, nobody herding us along. Martín told us stories about his grandfather’s vineyard while we waited for our ride back to Mendoza city. The sun was lower then, dust in the air catching gold light. Not sure if it was the wine or just being there, but I felt oddly grateful for all of it.